2 weeks time

[I Sit Next To A Badger-Leazes Corner]

I am confident that Tiote can keep our midfield strong, as well as Cabaye who has really impressed. This is our first big test so it will be interesting to see how we perform. Our defence has been pretty solid so far (touch wood) and Krul gets better every game.

Big test for us, no shame if we lose, I'd be happy with a point to keep our 9 game unbeaten run going.

Some silly arguments on here though, think we need to calm down.

Spurs have better players, but anything can happen and I'd like to think Ben Arfa and Santon are brought in for this.

We'll have to wait and see though.

 

[Hoddle is a god]

Your second post was a fair appraisal. Your first post, on the other hand, completely wrote us off in a very arrogant fashion.

In fact, your second post sounded like it came from a completely different person, and it was completely different from the "we will beat you easily" comment in your first post, so I find that awfully peculiar.

Yes, hence the flippancy.

On one side, I play a brazen tune, but flip me over and you'll hear my more moderate side.

With the help of some humour and a little wit you'll soon get the grasp of it

 

[Tiote's Witch Doctor]

2-1 win for us.

 

[Chappaz]

I do honestly think that we have the best CM pairing in Cabaye and Tiote outside of the top 4, second only to Spurs with any combo of VDV, Modric or Parker. It's where our biggest strength is by far, so as far as midfield goes, it will certainly be one of Spurs tougher tests this season. I have no doubt about that.

If we end up with a midfield trio of Cabaye, Tiote and Ben Arfa then it'll be one hell of a challenge. Tiote is Tiote and both Cabaye and Ben Arfa are two top French international talents. Not too many teams can boast that sort of quality in midfield at all. Might be one reason why we've played so well this season as to currently be sitting 4th. It won't stay like that forever, but we haven't got this far with luck alone.

 

[Mr Wonderful]

a result against Spurs depends on which left back we play, if we play Raylor then I won't expect a win... we need Santon and Ben Arfa if we're to get anythng.

 

[Jonas' Dance Teacher]

You're obviously in very good form and your players will be confident about facing any opposition.
You've got goals in you and you appear to be playing without fear, which is always dangerous.
It'll be a tough test.

The biggest problem that you might have is that you play a 4-4-2.
If you stick with that and we do too, then you might struggle to deal with our midfield, which would lead to Adebayor and Defoe getting plenty of chances.
Liverpool tried to match us up and they got blown away.

It should be a great game anyway, as both sides are committed to attacking and both sets of fans should be well up for it.
Good luck.

Yeah they will have chances, but Tiote/Cabaye will be hard to get past, if you to then there is Taylor/Coloccini which is even harder to get past, then if you manage to get past him then you have Krul to get past which is almost impossible haha.

Think Ba might be out (not 100% on this) so if that is true then we will stick Ben Arfa just behind Best which is never a bad thing

 

[Spurm]

this will not be an easy game for Spurs. I would be amazed if Spurs won by more than 1 goal. I can't see us running away with it.
On paper Spurs are superior in every department as far as i'm concerned. However, football isn't played on paper, its played on grass (who said that?).

SJP is a long way away, i'm sure the travelling disrupts the players. Also, it is a big ground with amazing support which raises their players to higher levels.

We're playing very well at the moment so i'm gonna go for 1-2. However, if you offered me a draw right now i would seriously consider taking it.

When was the last time Spurs won 5 straight in the prem? 3 straight is usually a good run for us

As to who i fear from Newcastle: i think Ben Arfa is the only player i would be fearful of. However, how fit is he? Will he be at his best? He'll also be up against some pretty in form fullbacks.
In previous years i would be concerned about Tiote, however we now have Parker/Sandro who can mix it up a bit.

 

[SpursDisciple]

Not sure I would fear any of their players individually, however they seem to be playing well as a team. Maybe having no star players is helping them gel together without any disruption from prima donnas. I would take a draw now, and can see only one goal either way as very likely. Hopefully we will be able to hit them on the break, and so 1-2 with Ade and Bale capitalising.

 

[Hoddle is a god]

I think they will miss Barton's presence, when they come up against the top sides (such as Spurs). The trouble is that they are a bit of an unknown quantity at the moment.

However, I will be very disappointed if we don't win that match.

 

[Chappaz]

Not sure I would fear any of their players individually, however they seem to be playing well as a team. Maybe having no star players is helping them gel together without any disruption from prima donnas. I would take a draw now, and can see only one goal either way as very likely. Hopefully we will be able to hit them on the break, and so 1-2 with Ade and Bale capitalising.

We do have 'star' players within the squad in terms of ability, but fortunately they don't act like stars. Our best players in Cabaye, Tiote, Coloccini and Krul, for example, are arguably four of the most modest players in our entire squad who just want to keep their heads down and work hard for the lads. It's probably one good reason why we've gelled so well as a team.

If I'd call any player a prima donna it would be Ben Arfa, but I think the leg break has changed the guy a bit and made him more modest as a player.

But to be honest I don't really expect any Spurs fans to know what kind of quality we have in the squad as I don't expect them to watch any of our games. Cabaye was relatively unknown before he came here and Obertan has considerably improved compared to his Man Utd performances, but no one would really see that unless they watched a few of our games. It could be why so many pundits and people wrote us off as relegation fodder before the season even began.

 

[Spurm]

But to be honest I don't really expect any Spurs fans to know what kind of quality we have in the squad as I don't expect them to watch any of our games.

Sorry, but this is ridiculous, and a little insulting.
I could just as easily say "i don't expect any Newcastle fans to know what kind of quality we have in our squad". However i wouldn't say that as its grossly insulting to most Newcastle fans.

 

[No Kane No Gain]

We do have 'star' players within the squad in terms of ability, but fortunately they don't act like stars. Our best players in Cabaye, Tiote, Coloccini and Krul, for example, are arguably four of the most modest players in our entire squad who just want to keep their heads down and work hard for the lads. It's probably one good reason why we've gelled so well as a team.

If I'd call any player a prima donna it would be Ben Arfa, but I think the leg break has changed the guy a bit and made him more modest as a player.

But to be honest I don't really expect any Spurs fans to know what kind of quality we have in the squad as I don't expect them to watch any of our games. Cabaye was relatively unknown before he came here and Obertan has considerably improved compared to his Man Utd performances, but no one would really see that unless they watched a few of our games. It could be why so many pundits and people wrote us off as relegation fodder before the season even began.

I think what he's saying is that you don't have any one player that you rely on.

I've only seen one full game of Newcastle's this season, the first against Arsenal where you hardly put a decent attack together all game. Obviously this hasn't been representitive of your season as a whole. Is Ba playing as a proper striker now or is Pardew still trying to get him to play off a striker? I remember I said before that he's a natural striker and you'd all come to the same conculsion also.

It'll be a tough game, it always is at St. James' Park... @ Sportsdirect.com/NewcastleHomeShirt #COYM

I never thought you guys would be in a relegation fight this year. You lost 3 of your better players in the summer but you have plenty of others and bought well too. We've been very good lately, since our poor start which was largely due to playing the best two teams in the league with 4/5 of our centre mids out and a further 4 elsewhere in our team. If Ledley King plays I expect him to continue his run of 8 straight wins but if he doesn't make it I can see you guys getting a point.

 

[Chappaz]

Sorry, but this is ridiculous, and a little insulting.
I could just as easily say "i don't expect any Newcastle fans to know what kind of quality we have in our squad". However i wouldn't say that as its grossly insulting to most Newcastle fans.

Do you watch any Newcastle games? Did you watch a few Lille games with Cabaye or a few Twente games with Tiote? Just over how many minutes have you watched any of our star players like Tiote, Cabaye, Colo or Krul play football?

There's Match of the Day, but especially with Newcastle games, they just show the goals, a few close-calls and then some tackles, that's about it.

What I'm saying is that I don't mind if any fans of any other clubs have the view that we aren't much of a threat, because I can't realistically expect anyone to have watched many of our players in any great detail. Only Newcastle fans have really sat down and watched our players over hundreds of minutes. Wouldn't you agree?

Spurs benefit from players with reputations. Newcastle fans don't have to watch many Spurs games to know that Adebayor, VDV, Modric and Bale are all really class players. However, with Newcastle, Coloccini was ****e in his first season, no one knew who Tiote was, no one knew who Cabaye was, and not many people had watched Ben Arfa, so the only real way to know how good they are is to sit down and watch them play. I do apologise if you have actually taken the effort to do that.

 

[Spurm]

Yes, i've watched Newcastle games, and i have my opinions about your players. I've already said it will be a difficult game and i've not ever said you won't be a threat.
However, just because people perceive your players not to be "star players" is no reason to start accusing them of not watching any of your matches or knowing what they are talking about.
None of the players you mention would get in our team (maybe Coloccini on current, not historical form) so is it any wonder that some don't perceive them as star players?

 

[Chappaz]

I think what he's saying is that you don't have any one player that you rely on.

I'd say we heavily rely on Krul, Colo, Cabaye and Tiote. They've kept us in games and lead us onto wins more than any other player by miles.

I always thought we'd rely on Ben Arfa as our star player, but fortunately we're in a position where we haven't had to do that (yet). Life is good.

I've only seen one full game of Newcastle's this season, the first against Arsenal where you hardly put a decent attack together all game. Obviously this hasn't been representitive of your season as a whole. Is Ba playing as a proper striker now or is Pardew still trying to get him to play off a striker? I remember I said before that he's a natural striker and you'd all come to the same conculsion also.

Ba was fasting during Ramadan so his early performances were ****e, but now that's over he's suddenly sprung into life and looks like a real goal threat.

Ba tends to play alongside Best, but in a slightly deeper role. Basically, it switches between 4-4-1-1 and 4-4-2 whenever it's required (i.e. whenever the midfield needs a little help).

I never thought you guys would be in a relegation fight this year. You lost 3 of your better players in the summer but you have plenty of others and bought well too. We've been very good lately, since our poor start which was largely due to playing the best two teams in the league with 4/5 of our centre mids out and a further 4 elsewhere in our team. If Ledley King plays I expect him to continue his run of 8 straight wins but if he doesn't make it I can see you guys getting a point.

Spurs do look very good this season. I've always said that you guys just lacked a real goal threat (Defoe and Crouch never seemed to do much), but now you have Adebayor who is very threatening, AND he seems to have brought out the best in Defoe who is looking sharp.

As for us, Cabaye is 10x the player Nolan is, Obertan is doing a job and Raylor isn't half the player Enrique is, BUT we currently have the best defence in the league, so I'm not quite sure how that's came about to tell you the truth. Hopefully Santon will make an appearance against your wingers as he's a quick fella.

 

[Hoddle is a god]

I vote we stop feeding these trolls. They are obviously trawling for compliments and they simply don't get that we are the better side all round and will be favourites to win the game.

Their over-sensitivity smacks of juvenility or ******edness. Either way, this discussion isn't going to get above the "hey, you guys will be tough to play" stage without it ending up in tears and handbags.

 

[Chappaz]

Yes, i've watched Newcastle games, and i have my opinions about your players. I've already said it will be a difficult game and i've not ever said you won't be a threat.

I didn't aim my comments at you. If you've took the effort to watch our players properly then great. However, not many do, so an awful lot of people form some peculiar views.

However, just because people perceive your players not to be "star players" is no reason to start accusing them of not watching any of your matches or knowing what they are talking about.

I'm not speaking about star players in general, just star players within our team. Some of them stand out and are the back bone of our side. However, if people haven't watched many of our games to see Cabaye, Krul, Colo, Tiote and co, then I couldn't really have a go at them, because I don't think many people have the time these days to sit down and watch full 90 minute matches of teams which they have no affiliation with whatsoever. For that reason, can I really be mad if someone doesn't see us as a big threat? Not really. The pundits do it all the time.

None of the players you mention would get in our team (maybe Coloccini on current, not historical form) so is it any wonder that some don't perceive them as star players?

Spurs have one of the strongest midfields in the league by far, but midfield is also our major strength, so whilst I think Cabaye and Tiote could slot into most EPL teams, they couldn't with Spurs. They might not be as good, but I don't think they're particularly far behind either.

 

[No Kane No Gain]

I vote we stop feeding these trolls. They are obviously trawling for compliments and they simply don't get that we are the better side all round and will be favourites to win the game.

Their over-sensitivity smacks of juvenility or ******edness. Either way, this discussion isn't going to get above the "hey, you guys will be tough to play" stage without it ending up in tears and handbags.

It's understandable. I don't think you were signed up for the build up on our first game and Untied fans were totally writing us off, which led to a lot of arguements. In our defence we didn't realise the full extent of how many of our players would be out, particularly in central midfield but no one likes their team to be dismissed.

I think it'll be tough but a game that we should win, especially if we want to get back into the top 4. Having said that it would neither surprise me, nor disappoint me much if we drew.

 

[PleaseNotPoll]

They're not trolls, HIAG.
Who writes their own side off when they're winning as often as Newcastle are?

 

[Chappaz]

I'm quite excited for this match tbh. Spurs will be the strongest opposition so far. I've been eager for our team in its current form to face such a challenge and see what they're really made of.